Rediscover Formula One

Michael Schumacher just a few races away from the end of his career proclaimed that he sees the next big German F1 driver in Sebastien Vettel. He went on to call the young German the new Mr.F1 from Germany. Speaking to a German newspaper he was quoted as saying :

"I also think he will win this year’s title, he has the right conditions for it.

"In the long term, I think he should go on to become Germany’s Mister Formula One."

Speaking about his retirement, the German cautioned others into following his example and returning from retirement :

"There has to be some sense behind it. I have seen examples where people return and are hopelessly out-driven," Schumacher said.

"To get confirmation that you are no longer good enough is of course a negative thing.

"So I wouldn’t like to motivate anyone to try it and throw themselves into their own misfortune."

"Mercedes made it clear that they wanted to keep working with me," he said.

Schumacher also admitted that the experience has changed him from a behavioral standpoint but as a person he is still the same.

"Yes and no. As a person, I am still the same as before, but I’ve learned to be more open and not to despair of the difficult situations, but to understand them," he said.

"It has given me a certain looseness that people have noticed.

"I am still the same person I was, but I have taken the blinkers off with which I used to walk through the pit lanes."

The German legend on the eve of his last Indian Grand Prix (unless there is another comeback) thanked the Indian Grand Prix fans for the super support he got last year and asked for similar support this year too.

“Last year we had a full house. We had so much support during the first race and that was pretty unique. I don’t remember any other new country we explored with Formula One that got so much following. So I want to say thank you to all the fans that supported us last year and will hopefully do the same this year.”

“In India, I never thought I would be this popular. Before coming here for the first time, I thought only a small group of fans would know me. But the support is everywhere and it is definitely quite touching. The emotions run high for fans here,” said Schumacher.

The German made is clear though that he wont be coming back to the sport.

“I don’t want to think about the future but there won’t be a third comeback for sure.”

The good thing was the German didn’t seem repentant upon reentering the sport.

“In total, the legacy still remains. I became a more experienced driver being in tough situations. I made some close friends and now I want to move on.”

In an expected move the Mercedes GP team announced the signing of young Briton Lewis Hamilton ending speculation about Michael Schumacher renewing with the Mercedes GP unit. Lewis Hamilton ofcourse didn’t show any loyalty to the team that trained him as a kid (McLaren Mercedes) and pretty much gifted him a formula one seat. But that’s a story for another day.

So why did Mercedes not sign Michael Schumacher on for another season and what does the future hold for him ?

Mercedes decision to go ahead with Lewis Hamilton is linked to Michael’s indecisiveness on renewing his Mercedes contract. No doubt Mercedes wanted to renew his contract, just that Michael and his camp were showing disinterest. And in a sport that moves as fast as formula one, that can be a crime. So Mercedes covered their butts by signing a good driver in Lewis Hamilton and now potentially leaving Michael with an embarrassing end to his comeback.

At the start of the season, many of  F1 who’s who, including Bernie Ecclestone and Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn had predicted Michael Schumacher to win not only races in the 2012 season but the formula one driver’s championship. Sadly 14 races into the season, the F1 veteran has failed to finish 50% of the time. To his credit around 5 times it  has been something which was not his fault. But still the statistics on paper look pretty bad.

But does that mean Michael Schumacher should quit formula one and not risk another season ? Hell No ! , Michael is driving pretty well, many a times you can see its the car which is the limiting factor and not the driver. The person who put his legacy on the time by coming back from retirement needs a better ending to formula one.

Ofcourse it would be hard to match his previous career stint , but it doesn’t mean he shouldn’t try. Sauber has expressed interest in signing on the ace German and as his fans we can only hope that he accepts the offer. Whatever the future holds, here is one Schumacher fan who would love him forever

As we start the session and I switch on the television Sergio Perez bangs into the wall and loses his rear suspension and a rear tyre.

The 1st session is a bit interesting, the top 3 drivers are Hulkenberg, Koayashi and Grosjean followed by world champion Sebastien Vettel. The only issue being that the top3 have already used their super soft compound tyres while the biggies managed to qualify using just soft compound tyres so that they can get better times in their subsequent runs. Perez, Karthikyean, Pique, Delarosa, Heikki Kovalainen and Timo Glock are among those relegated.

In Q2, Nico Rosberg seems to be doing pretty well, Rosberg was also the fastest guy in the morning practice session. He leads from Webber, Hamilton, Alonso and Schumacher, all of them in .200th of a second. Infact, top 11 drivers in Q2 are within 1 seond of each other. Pastor Maldonado and Michael Schumacher have to contend with a 10 place and 5 place penalty respectively. And Felipe Massa just goes P1, apparently Ferrari have asked him to perform or perish. As the Q2 session ends Jenson Button is unable to enter the top 10 and the previous Monaco Grand Prix winner will have to start from P13.

Q3, was whoa ! Straight to the result, Michael Schumacher gets pole position. He is ecstatic and so are we, he is cheering and flashing the victory sign. Its fate’s cruel turn that he has a 5 place penalty to contend with.

More later !

The cars take their positions and the start sequence starts, 5 red lights go out and Nico is super fast, Schumi holds onto 2nd place, Button is 3rd in front of Kimi Raikonen who leads from Hamilton and Perez. By lap3 Mercedes have opened up such a gap that DRS wont be available to Button and party .

On Lap 9, Nice Rosberg is pulling away from the pack. Michael Schumacher is struggling to hold second place and with Jenson Button in the DRS zone its becoming tougher and tougher.

On Lap 11 , Kimi Raikkonen have a good fight inside the pitlane. Kimi almost noses the McLaren while coming out. Did Lewis Hamilton overtake Kimi Raikkonen in the pitlane ? Its too close to call.

On Lap 13, Michael Schumacher comes in for a pit stop and loses position to Lewis Hamilton as he takes on the harder compound tyres. Race over for Michael Schumacher as he rolls to a standstill on the track side. He lost a wheel apparently (whatever that means).

We just see a replay of Michael Schumacher’s mechanic frantically trying to stop Michael’s car, nut didn’t go on properly.

Lap 27 and the race is a bit boring, Mark Webber overtakes Felip Massa for 12th place I think. Yeah these are Ferraris and Red Bulls fighting for out of points positions.

Lap 31, Massa asked to let Alonso pass as the 2 Ferraris are on different strategies.

Lap 41 , Another pit disaster, Jenson Button’s rear jack fails, loses more than 6 seconds in the pits which ensures that Nico Rosberg isn’t pressurized. Mercedes tells Nico to take it easy.

Lap 50, race is getting super duper exciting, everyone is off the racing line, Raikkonen is probably slower than my grandma at this point, from 2nd place to 12th for him.

Note to Karun Chandhok : Don’t make your co-commentator look like a super fool on international television.

Lap 56/56 – Nico Rosberg all set to take the chequered flag on a 2 stop strategy.

Nico Rosberg wins the Chinese Grand Prix, his 1st grand prix win. Jenson button takes second place for McLaren and Lewis Hamilton makes it a McLaren 2-3.

The camera shows a shot of Michael Schumacher rejoicing, bitter sweet joy there.

Race report in some time.